Introducing the Biblical Preaching Podcast!

I’m excited to announce the launch of our brand-new podcast: The Biblical Preaching Podcast! Unlike the many great sermon podcasts, this podcast is designed for those who preach, those who are learning to preach, and anyone who cares deeply about the ministry of preaching.

My Cor Deo colleague, Mike Chalmers, will join me as we discuss all things preaching. Together, we’ll explore this ministry’s joys, challenges, and complexities.

Here’s what you can expect:

  • Engaging Discussions: Insights into various aspects of biblical preaching.
  • Special Guests: We’ll feature some amazing voices from the world of preaching—our first guest joins us next week!
  • Encouragement for Preachers: Each full episode concludes with a segment designed to encourage those in preaching ministry.
  • Bitesize Episodes: Shorter episodes focusing on one specific aspect of preaching.
  • Related Blog Posts: From time to time, I’ll share blog posts that dive deeper into themes we discuss in an episode. These posts won’t be mere transcripts but will provide additional perspectives, practical tips, or reflections to help you take the conversation further.

Our hope and prayer for this podcast is simple: that it will strengthen and encourage biblical preaching in churches around the world. Where biblical preaching thrives, the church grows healthier, and healthy churches reach their communities.

We want this podcast to be a gathering point—a place where preachers can connect, reflect, and grow together. This is your conversation! We’ll celebrate the goodness of God, explore the transformative power of rightly handled Scripture, tackle the complex realities of ministry, and share the joy of seeing lives changed through the preached Word.


How to Listen & Connect:
🎙️ Listen to the Podcast on Your Favorite Platform:

📺 Watch Episodes on YouTube:
Subscribe to our channel for video versions of the podcast and exclusive content: YouTube Channel.

🖋️ Read the Blog
Continue to visit BiblicalPreaching.net for posts related to specific episodes, offering fresh insights and practical takeaways.


Can You Help Spread the Word?
We’d love your help in making this podcast a resource for as many people as possible! Here’s how you can support us:

  • Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and/or to the YouTube channel.
  • Like and Comment to share your thoughts and join the conversation.
  • Follow Us for updates on new episodes and blog posts.
  • Share with your friends, fellow preachers, and anyone who might find this helpful.
  • Review the podcast on your favourite podcast platform – apparently, positive reviews are the most helpful thing!

Thank you for your prayers and support. We’re excited to see how God uses this podcast to encourage and equip preachers worldwide!

New Book Released in the USA

I am very pleased to announce that my new book, The New Birth, has now also been released in the USA.

If you would like a copy of the book and will see me in person during January/February, please ask. (I will be in Oregon, St Louis and Chicago.) To order the book from my affiliate link in the USA – click here. (To order the book from my affiliate link in the UK/Europe – click here.)

Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy the book! (Please comment on this post if you’ve read the book already, but I would also greatly appreciate any positive reviews on 10ofthose, Amazon, GoodReads, etc.)

Endorsements

“Peter Mead presents this essential doctrine in a way that warm, clear, rich, and readable. The book is accessible and engaging, and the addition of stories and reflection questions at the end of each chapter enables us to consider and imagine the way that the truth of the gospel can and should shape our lives. This is a lovely and helpful book—a great introduction to those new to or exploring faith, and a refreshing encouragement to those who have been Christians for a while.”

Ellidh Cook, Student Worker at All Souls Langham Place, London

“This tiny book conveys a huge reality: that Jesus came to raise spiritually dead people into abundant life! Peter Mead’s insights into the new birth that Jesus offers are both pastorally wise and profoundly helpful.”

Philip Miller, Senior Pastor, The Moody Church, Chicago

“When I became a Christian, I didn’t really grasp what had happened. It was an infinitely bigger deal than I realised-it was (and is) beyond my wildest dreams. Peter has given us an excellent primer into this huge adventure. This lovely, heart-warming book opens up the foundational truth of the new birth. As with the rest of the Essentials series, it is short and simple, yet full of deep and delightful teaching.”

Jonathan Thomas, pastor, author & broadcaster

“I found Peter Mead’s The New Birth contribution to the Essentials’ series most helpful, because it weaves together our story with the big story of Scripture through the lens of the work of the Holy Spirit. Taking as its anchor point Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus, it wonderfully explains the theology and the felt experience of Christian conversion, and all along there are thrilling stories of how the Spirit transformed the likes of Spurgeon, Whitefield, C.S. Lewis, and modern men and women.”

Rico Tice, Co-Founder of Christianity Explored

We Must Not Lose Christ at Christmas

As Christmas approaches, plans are coming together—not only for family gatherings but also for church events.  Last year, our church put on a Christmas musical, which involved lots of cast, support crew, set building, costume making, songwriting, etc.  This year, we are keeping it simple with just a couple of carol services.  Whether we “go big” or “keep it simple,” there is one important ingredient that must not be forgotten.

It is so easy to have everyone frantically pulling together a Christmas production and then have nobody remembering to bring the baby for the manger.  In the same way, it is easy to be busy with Christmas plans, even Christmas preaching, and fail to keep the focus on the baby at the centre of the story.

If Jesus is forgotten for a nativity scene, then someone will be quickly despatched to go and pick up a baby doll before anyone notices.  But what happens if we lose Jesus from our Christmas, and even from our Christianity?

If the theme is Christmas, but Christ is missing, then there will be lots of peace on earth and goodwill to all men, but no basis for such a message of hope.  And if the focus is more general, then a Christianity without Jesus will descend into moral tirades and an attempt to police either church or society.  There can be no real Christianity without Christ.

And yet, it keeps on happening.  How often is the gospel presented as a moral and legal logical presentation?  “You have been bad, judgment is coming, God can help you get fixed, and there are some other benefits too…”  It might involve some presentation of truth, but the heart of the message is missing.

John Piper wrote these words in God is the Gospel:

“The critical question for our generation – and for every generation – is this: If you could have Heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with Heaven, if Christ was not there?”

We have briefly considered Christmas, and Christianity in general, as well as our evangelism.  But what about on a personal level?  When Jesus is missing, we will tend to see God as distant and become increasingly self-focused.  This does not necessarily mean we will become rebellious and overtly sinful.  We might just become religious and self-righteous.  Whether in compliance or rebellion, we will become much more behavioural in our focus.

Without Jesus, we will start to see our Bibles as instruction manuals, more than God’s self-revelation.  For instance, in John 5, Jesus is rebuking the religious leaders for diligently studying their Bibles and yet missing him completely.  They would study and recite the Hebrew Scriptures, but they were blind to the self-revelation of God that should have had them excited at the arrival of Jesus.  Sadly, their study spectacles only allowed them to see the dazzling lights of self-glorification, and they missed the main focus of the Scriptures who now stood in front of them.

When we let Jesus drift out of the spotlight in our Christianity, we will lose that vital sense of the relationship with God that Jesus came to establish.  Instead of gazing on Jesus and being transformed (2 Corinthians 3:18), we will see only ourselves and drift toward self-glorifying, or self-loathing, or we will become self-appointed evaluators of others and start to inflict unhelpful pressure on others. 

There is a world of difference between Christianity with Jesus at the centre, and religion with me at the centre.  Actually, there is an eternity of difference.

As we come to another Christmas, let’s be sure to pause and allow our hearts to be wowed by the wonder of it all.  Charles Wesley’s hymn says this: “In vain the first-born seraph tries, to sound the depths of love divine!”  If angels are amazed, surely we should slow down and make sure we are too.  Can we ever fully grasp the wonder of Christmas?  Wesley’s words again, “Veiled in flesh, the godhead see, hail the incarnate deity, pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus our Immanuel!”

Before the year is done, take a moment to stop and take stock.  Jesus has to be the centre of everything, not only at Christmas, but in all of Christianity.  He is much too precious to lose!

______________________________________________________

As we enter the month of December, click below for the advent series of videos in Pleased to Dwell – Peter’s book about the Incarnation . . .

The New Birth – UK Release

I am very pleased to announce that my new book, The New Birth, has been released in the UK. (It will be released in the USA next month.) See the links at the bottom of this post if you want to buy it from my affiliate link so that I receive a small amount from the sale (thanks!)

Coincidentally, on the day the book was released, my eldest daughter (whose testimony is in the book) went into labour with our first grandchild! So we enjoyed two new births in less than 24 hours!

If you would like a copy of the book and will see me in person, please ask. To order the book from my affiliate link in the UK/Europe – click here. And to pre-order the book from my affiliate link in the USA – click here.

Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy the book! (Please comment on this post if you’ve read the book already, but I would also greatly appreciate any positive reviews on 10ofthose, Amazon, GoodReads, etc.)

Endorsements

“Peter Mead presents this essential doctrine in a way that warm, clear, rich, and readable. The book is accessible and engaging, and the addition of stories and reflection questions at the end of each chapter enables us to consider and imagine the way that the truth of the gospel can and should shape our lives. This is a lovely and helpful book—a great introduction to those new to or exploring faith, and a refreshing encouragement to those who have been Christians for a while.”

Ellidh Cook, Student Worker at All Souls Langham Place, London

“This tiny book conveys a huge reality: that Jesus came to raise spiritually dead people into abundant life! Peter Mead’s insights into the new birth that Jesus offers are both pastorally wise and profoundly helpful.”

Philip Miller, Senior Pastor, The Moody Church, Chicago

“When I became a Christian, I didn’t really grasp what had happened. It was an infinitely bigger deal than I realised-it was (and is) beyond my wildest dreams. Peter has given us an excellent primer into this huge adventure. This lovely, heart-warming book opens up the foundational truth of the new birth. As with the rest of the Essentials series, it is short and simple, yet full of deep and delightful teaching.”

Jonathan Thomas, pastor, author & broadcaster

“I found Peter Mead’s The New Birth contribution to the Essentials’ series most helpful, because it weaves together our story with the big story of Scripture through the lens of the work of the Holy Spirit. Taking as its anchor point Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus, it wonderfully explains the theology and the felt experience of Christian conversion, and all along there are thrilling stories of how the Spirit transformed the likes of Spurgeon, Whitefield, C.S. Lewis, and modern men and women.”

Rico Tice, Co-Founder of Christianity Explored

Review: Preaching, by Michael Reeves

Subtitled, A God-Centred Vision, this is a little gem of a book from Union Publishing.  It is not about preparation techniques.  Reeves writes, “I want to press deeper. For a rich, biblical theological understanding of preaching dramatically enhances preaching far more powerfully than any practical tip. . . . I want to cast a vision for preaching that is nourished by the very being of God, the glory of his Word, and the power of the gospel.” (p17-18)

As you can imagine, Reeves builds his book on both a theological and historical footing.  There are clear trinitarian foundations: “This is what the living God is like: not silent or speechless, but a God who speaks.” (p21)  And there are also historical insights worthy of note: “Preaching was the real engine room of the Reformation. . . . the Reformation demonstrated the astonishing, transformative power of the regular and clear preaching of God’s Word.  It stands as historical evidence that there is nothing inevitable about church decline.  The spiritual darkness of our day can indeed be checked and turned back.” (p24-25)  

The goal of preaching, theologically, is not just to learn about God, but to encounter him, to enjoy him, and be united to him.  And biblically?  True preaching must be expository, “in that it exposes the Word of God and makes that the food on which the church grows.” (p30)  Reeves is clear, true preaching must point us to the person of Christ.  While this is not a book of the mechanics of sermon construction, Reeves offers some critical advice.  “Preach Christ, not an abstraction.”  “Proclaim the reality, not a mere idea.”  “Show, don’t tell.” (p52-57)

While many preaching books will encourage preaching to the heart, and not just the head, this book explains what that actually means.  The preacher must convey more than mere information or emotion.  “(Preaching) is a heart-shaking assault on darkness and the very gates of hell, trumpeted forth so that sinners tremble and saints quake in wonder.” (p62)  And true preaching must lead to heartfelt worship, for “the triune God, who is love, is not truly known where he is not truly loved.” (p64)

We all know that preaching can tick many boxes, yet remain essentially shallow.  Reeves offers a simple cure for shallow preaching: get to the root of the issue.  We are not simply needing exhortation to better conduct.  We need heart transformation.  The affections are the key target in ministry– “Affections are deeper and more constant (than emotions): they make up the very grain of the heart and its inclinations.” (p73)

When the gospel is truly preached, “It is that gospel that will melt and renew hearts of stone.  It is that sight of the Son of Man, lifted up on the cross, proving the love of his Father, that realigns affections. . . . The sin that pleased us becomes odious. The God we flinched from becomes entrancing.” (p78-79)

This book really is a gem.  A book to read and read again for your ministry, and a book small enough to distribute to other preachers in your circle.   

The Thirties – Part 9 (Final Thoughts)

As the allied leaders appeased Hitler in the later 1930s, ACG noted how this played into his hands. “The peace of Munich is a complete victory for Hitler.  The Munich pact replaces the Versailles Treaty. Germany has won the [First World] war after all. An unforgettable lesson has been taught to the whole world, namely that nothing can be expected from lawful agreement, arbitration and peaceful negotiations. All that matters is power and might. What you can grab by force and threat is yours by right. It is a lesson that will not be forgotten by the Germans within and without the Fatherland. It will continue to plague the world in years to come.” (p350-351)

The Allies simply needed to call Hitler’s bluff.  However, the British and the French gave up on their treaty with Czechoslovakia and tried to pursue peace.  Hitler lacked the strength and public support needed to wage a new war.  But sadly, his lies won him the extra time he needed. “The great Swedish Chancellor Count Axel Oxenstjerna was right when he said to his son: ‘Don’t you know, my boy, with what little intelligence the world is run?’  Oxenstjerna’s words are as true today as they were 300 years ago.” (p354)

As ACG came to the end of his book, preparing for publication in 1939, he wrote, “At the apex of the German pyramid stands a dictator drunk with success and surrounded by a horde of daring adventurers. He and they live in a world of their own. Germany, they believe and make others believe, has become the hub of the universe. . . . It is a sad commentary on our times that the forces of progress, suffering from a strange malady of inertia and moral paralysis, have permitted a dictatorship to bring limitless misery to millions of people who once were happy.” (p356)

It is pretty sobering to read the final pages, knowing all that was to follow in the subsequent six years of Nazi tyranny.  “I have no intention of defending that which can not be defended. I have testified in previous chapters to the all too many sins of omission committed by the democratic state, statesmen and national leaders, and their failure to take timely and energetic action against the enemies of democracy and progress. Yet to arrive at a conclusive answer one must not look around for individual scapegoats. It is necessary to realise the collective responsibility and the collective guilt of the German people; that collective guilt which can perhaps best be explained by the lack of political instinct and political common sense of the Germans.” (p360)  As we look at threats to society today, we could soon be writing the same thing of our nation, or of the west.

“If individual guilt and responsibility have to be apportioned, then certainly all those are guilty who allowed things to come to such a pass.”  (p365)  ACG referred to Reich Chancellor Bruening in 1930 and others who made influential decisions with devastating consequences.  But what about a broader view?  What about the population, the foreign leaders, community influencers like the church leaders, etc.? 

“The longer National Socialism rules in Germany, the greater becomes the danger of a new and all-devastating war.  It is the sacred duty of all those within and without Germany to whom justice and law, humanity, democracy and peace are not matters of mere lip service, to co-operate in the fight for the preservation of mankind.” (p368)  This is still true today . . . totalitarian, globalist takeover agendas are flagrant, and too many heads remain firmly buried in the sand. 

So, to come full circle, common decency dictates that we should not liken anything today to 1930’s Germany.  In light of what has happened in recent years and what may lie ahead of us, maybe it would be wiser if we did.

The Thirties – Part 8 (Points to Ponder)

In this series, I have considered ACG’s book, Inside Germany.  Published in 1939, it is a fascinating account of the Nazi takeover of Germany that brought the world to the brink of disaster.  In light of reading that book and reflecting on our own times, what are some takeaway points to consider as preachers?

1. Only one message can change hearts.  It is not a political message nor driven by headlines in the newspapers or social media.  It is the message of the Gospel, and it comes from the Bible.  We must preach the gospel as loud and clear as possible in tumultuous times.  It may be that the turbulent times stir previously comfortable hearts to a new level of openness.  When those moments come, we must offer Jesus to a needy world. 

2. Only saying one thing can be a sign of weakness.  I know that our ministry is to preach the Gospel.  However, we also have some clauses in our job description that relate to being people of the truth.  In an age of disinformation, misinformation, malinformation, etc., we must speak the truth.  In an age of censorship, controlled media narratives, and the silencing of independent thinking, we need to promote informed and free thought.  Suppose our default position in public speech is to hide behind what is culturally acceptable.  For now, we can quote Bible verses because it is still safe to do so.  Why do we think we will later become bold clarions of truth when the societal pressure to conform becomes so much greater once tyranny takes a tighter grip on our throats?

3. We need to grow in discernment.  Too many are proclaiming a media-shaped worldview with some Bible verses attached.  There is probably a church in your town that is already fully there – sounding like their pulpit is a marginally more religious version of a BBC TV presenter.  God has not called us to offer insipid commentary on society with the odd tip of the hat to contemporary ideology.  We were called to think and proclaim biblically.  So read the Bible, then read the culture through the lens of the Bible (and not vice versa). 

We wouldn’t only read theology books from one agenda-driven publishing house, so don’t read society simply through the lens of the mainstream media’s agreed narrative.  Neither should we only read society through just one or two social media voices.  Let’s look for trustworthy sources.  That doesn’t mean checking to see if they are on the BBC, even if it once did.  Censorship should be a red flag to any thinker.  Look for who is being paid and who is losing their livelihood.  Look for who stands to gain and who is being silenced.  Let’s look for multiple trustworthy sources of information and set an example of being informed, thoughtful, and biblical in our discernment.

4. Have the courage to speak when silence is easier.  Can I be candid?  There have been times during recent years when I have found that many Christian leaders seem to be hiding behind the mantra of only preaching the Gospel.  It is easy to quote John 3:16 on social media.  But how many churches have gone along with the media narrative every step of the way, only to wonder later why they didn’t question more?  The easy choice today can mean I have reduced my credibility in a year or two.

5. What is our territory?  We have to be careful with politicised issues.  But don’t fall for the simplistic idea that every political matter is off-limits to us.  Last week, I was in a room where some people were asked what it was like to live under Soviet rule.  One answered about how they could not trust anyone.  Another spoke about never showing gladness outwardly.  Then an older man said, “We can never explain to our children what it was like because it was a spirit.”  There was a spiritual reality behind Communist rule.  There was an evil spirituality in Nazi rule too.  And if there is a “spirit of the age” at work in the ideological agenda of our day, then we cannot say that preachers should stay quiet.  Politics may be largely off-limits, but speaking God’s truth in the midst of a spiritual battle certainly is our territory.

6. Having courage does not negate the need for gentleness.  Sometimes, people hear a call for courage as a call for bombastic shouting.  Not at all.  We represent Christ, and we need to convey the nature of his character, as well as truth, in society.  But we should not underestimate what can be achieved in this world with gentle forcefulness.  (See my post on Solzhenitsyn’s “Live Not By Lies” from January.)

7. Pray and pray boldly.  As well as saying little to challenge the media narrative, it is also easy to pray as if that media narrative dictates reality.  God can do immeasurably beyond all that we ask or imagine.  In our private and public prayers, let us boldly pray for God to bring down those who exalt themselves, for God to expose those whose plans are for evil rather than good, and for God to break open hearts that seem so solidified against him.  The Third Reich was supposedly going to last a thousand years, but it was done in twelve.  Many prayed for that.  The impregnable Iron Curtain was brought down in my younger years.  Many prayed for that too.  And so it is with every variation of Communism, globalism, or religious takeover. Let’s pray that God would bring it down so that more can be spared the suffering and freely come to know him.

The Thirties – Part 6 (Contemporary Shifts)

In the last post, we brought out the question sitting in the shadows throughout this series of posts.  What part did the church play in allowing the Nazi takeover of Germany?  We can never know what would have happened if more stood up and overtly resisted.  But that is one of the critical questions we must wrestle with in our day.  First, when will we stop supporting the general direction of travel?  Second, how will we resist?

Whatever we may feel is the driving force behind the changes, we surely must get our heads out of the sand and recognise the shifts that are taking place.  There are moral shifts regarding gender, sexuality and crime.  There are human rights shifts regarding free speech, free movement, the right to assemble, and bodily autonomy.  There are ideological shifts in respect to traditional religions, cult-like agendas, and globalist unaccountable power grabs.  The world could be a very different place in a very short time.

Morality and change – Even before the full extent of their atrocities were revealed, people knew the Nazi morality. “The Nazis claim that all that is beneficial to the German people is right.” (p192)  This, of course, meant that they could do whatever they liked.  When right and wrong are redefined, a culture is under threat.  We live in a culture where you are judged to be a threat to progress if your actions, words, and even thoughts do not support the approved narrative, the dominant ideology, or the power imposing religion. 

Why do people assume that the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom to disagree will persist when those asserting their power are committed to a different morality?  If any try speaking against certain sanctions and medications, kneeling ceremonies, well-known religions, or theories in climate science, then they soon discover that there are consequences in our day.  There has been a major shift in the ethical foundations of our society – we must not pretend otherwise.

Democracy and change – People naively believe that societies change from good to bad in free and fair elections.  Sometimes that has happened.  But revolutionary change tends to require a crisis. “On the day after the Reichstag fire, a new law ‘for the protection of the people and the state against communist acts of violence’ was made public.  It had been obviously prepared beforehand. … This law deprived every citizen of his few remaining civil rights and left him at the mercy of the new masters and their heavily armed sluggers now elevated to the rank of authority. Person and home were no longer inviolate. Privacy of mail, telephone and telegram had ceased to exist. Freedom of speech, press and assembly was a thing of the past.” (p215)  It was not an election that changed everything but a manufactured crisis.  A crisis means that change can be imposed ‘for the good’ of the people. 

Individuals as the threat to change – As with every tyrannical takeover and revolutionary moment, the free-thinking individual is an instant threat to the people in power.  Germany had “confined itself to the deliberate destruction of the rights of all those who think independently and come to conclusions different from those of the masters of the Third Reich.” (p230)  We see the same thing when Communist revolutions grab hold of a country – immediately the useful idiots who helped create the crisis are a threat to be discarded, along with the educated, the religious leaders, the writers, the influencers.

The Nazis considered the “fourth battlefield” to be enemies from within the state.  So, they used the SS troops to bear arms freely as they brought terror and control to the nation.  The SA “brown shirts” were more of an accessory to the Nazis but were used either in uniform or in everyday clothes “to arouse enthusiasm among the masses.” The jubilant masses described by foreign press correspondents were usually “well-rehearsed SA formations.” They would create disturbances outside Jewish-run businesses, where the Gestapo would sweep in to arrest the owners for their own protection and dispatch them off to concentration camps.  Then, the SA performance would quiet down.  (See p250-251)

The recurring theme of thought crime came out strongly in the book: “None of those imprisoned under the pretext of protective confinement had committed crimes. Their only guilt in the eyes of the Nazis was to have opinions contrary to Nazi creed.” (p338)  A society can never be considered free when people are punished for holding specific opinions.

Is change a surprise? It is easy to assume that the German people were unaware of the evils of the Nazi regime until the secrets were revealed after the end of the Third Reich and the humbling death of Hitler in his bunker. “Again it must be emphasised, that everything that has taken place within the last five years has been publicly and repeatedly proclaimed by the Nazi regime long before it came to pass.  Only the degree in which early predictions have been fulfilled is a matter of surprise.” (p267)  I can’t help but wonder if such published predictions were also disparagingly called conspiracy theories a century ago.  There does seem to be a pattern – troubling things are proclaimed and published, the media run a different narrative, people quote those troubling things, the media decry those people as quacks and conspiracy nuts.  And then, sometimes very quickly, those troubling things turn out to be true.

In the next post in this series, we will consider more parallels to our time.

The Thirties – Part 5 (What About The Church?)

The question I brought into my reading of ACG’s book was more specific than society.  I wanted to know what was happening in the church during those years of transition to tyranny.  And is there anything we can learn for our tumultuous times?

The Catholic Church agreed a concordat with the Nazi party in 1933.  It gave the church a lot of freedom and protection.  But at a cost. “Catholic clergy were deprived of their civil rights. Political activity was forbidden.” (p205)  Ironically, they kept their position of influence in society, while relinquishing their ability to say anything constructive.  I have watched many wrestle with this tension in recent years.  Should we strive to keep our “voice” in society by following the rules imposed by the media, or do we speak out about concerns and thereby invite society’s opposition? 

“To oppose the encroachments by the Third Reich, the churches should have united and fought jointly the common danger, but here as in the political field, the spirit as well as the prerequisites to such unity were sadly lacking. As to the Protestant Church, the wealthy parishioners and the Protestant middle class were in favor of the Nazi regime. …Neither then nor later did the Protestant clergy show a common will and determination in defense of their rights.” (p206)  It is intriguing that those with some societal standing (in terms of their wealth status) are identified as supporting the regime.  Surely, if the benefits are to be weighed in terms of income and status, that should be a warning flag that the motives may be somewhat corrupted.

Is it possible to imagine a church in our time that goes along with a rogue government or popular narrative in order to keep its voice in society?  But what if it already has little to no voice?  What is it protecting?

“The Nazi aim in the field of religion is the establishment of a co-ordinated German church under party supervision. … Their publicly proclaimed thesis is “The word of Adolf Hitler is the word of God and has the authority of God.” (p206)  It was not just moral madness that should have been opposed, but also the religious heresy of the time.

Even within the 1930’s, there was a growing religious fervor in silent protests against the Nazi regime.  What if they had not capitulated initially to take the easy path and keep their influence?  What if the church had been willing to take a stand from the start?

There was a concerted effort to undermine the church’s influence in society.  The black-shirts, the elite guards, were forbidden to belong to any religion.  The Hitler Youth movement estranged a generation from churches. “Church services are held under observation of the Gestapo, the state secret police. Clergymen who have held services outside the church confines in order to escape police supervision have been arrested and sent to concentration camps.” (p208)

Church leaders and members were subjected to every possible charge and slander. “They are accused of immorality, corruption and violation of government regulations. . . . Occasional cases of law violations are blatantly generalized.” (p208)  It is hard to stand for what is right and true, but is that not what all believers are called to do in this fallen world?  We represent Jesus and the Gospel.  Always with grace and love, but sometimes with courage and a willingness to pay the ultimate price.  And when we capitulate in order to have a voice in society, what happens when society wakes up to the truth and then wonders why the church didn’t say anything? 

Is it better to have a voice, or to use it? 

I don’t want to condemn the church in the 1930s without acknowledging how easily cowed the church in the 2020s might prove to be.  As Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously wrote, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

The Thirties – Part 4 (How Did it Happen?)

The tyrannical Nazi Reich toppled the German Republic in just fourteen years.  It is historically fascinating to trace the transition.  More than that, we must learn from history to avoid repeating it.  So, how did it happen? 

There were all sorts of players involved.  Lots of people had vested interests.  There was plenty of historical baggage everywhere you look.  And complex political wranglings tugged at the emerging storyline.  It would take a long book to lay bare the complex reasons for the change.  However, there are some pertinent points that a series of blog posts can consider to enlighten our thinking for our world today.

ACG repeatedly points to a critical underlying issue – a lack of willingness to resist.  For example, he writes, “Yes, it ought to be said again and again, that the iron will necessary to maintain the authority of the state, to guard jealously the inalienable rights of the people, and to fight in defense of democracy, was sadly lacking.” (p142)

When people were openly attempting to destroy democracy and bring in a dictatorship, there should have been a response from “energetic authorities” – but there was not.

While the outside world was concerned about the “saber-rattling speeches” from the Nazis, “The republic, however, and its statesmen continued to view the manifestations of reaction and renewed militarism with unconcern.” (p145)

“When Nazis took power, people had done nothing, but felt it was too late to take a stand.” So sad.  And yet, it is so believable as we watch human nature in recent history.  In the early 1930s, they still had the numbers and the means to stop it, but the will to resist had already dissipated. 

Once the Nazis were in power, the rules changed.  They introduced a worker’s passport to control the labour force for government purposes.  People couldn’t change jobs without permission, which kept the masses from moving to the cities and away from the armaments factories.  Tyranny, by definition, needs to impose control over individuals.

It would be unfair to say that the people merely turned away from reality. “Everything is prepared in the Third Reich by means of a thoroughly co-ordinated press and radio.” (p192)  There was massive propaganda pressure against the people.  The most heinous example of this was the national pressure against Jews and the normalization of hatred against a class of people.  During 1936-37, 870 Jews were convicted of racial crimes, turning the screw even more.  They could not receive protection because of the hostility of the police and the courts.  In our times, we are repeatedly seeing how quickly a society can be turned against a race, class or group of people (consider medical dissenters since 2021 or Jews in recent months, for just two examples).  And sadly, the majority of people either do not see it or refuse to see it. 

“The annexation of Austria was accompanied by all the horrible happenings known from 1933 when Nazism conquered power in Germany.  At that time the world was unwilling to believe its own eyes and prepared to forget the horrors as quickly as possible.” (p336-7)  I wonder how often the combination of narrative control by the media and self-imposed blindness in key people leads to greater harm to the world.

I started ACG’s book expecting only to find hints of what was to follow during the Second World War, and especially the horrors of the holocaust.  But the concentration camps, the numerous “suicides”, and the killing sprees were all already present and known in the thirties.  Living in a world that is unwilling to believe its own eyes is scary!

Society may be conditioned to support an approved narrative, but we are called to be men and women of truth.  In the next post, I want to get to the heart of my concern: what was the church doing in the transition to Nazi rule?  Does the church matter?  Do our voices make a difference?